RSVP for the July 21 meeting here

Since I wrote last month’s update on the Local 802 building, our members got the chance to hear more details at our June 18 membership meeting. The full presentation was detailed and nuanced, and members can contact me personally at scutler@local802afm.org for more information. But I’d like to share with you the general flow of what we discussed.

Members present at the meeting heard the how and why of our building project shut down. We discussed the problems presented by two key members of our team who let us down, leading to the shut down.

We heard tales of skyrocketing budgets, missed deadlines, unfinalized agreements with the building trades unions, financing originally in place that fell through as interest rates and the scope of the project increased and left it unaffordable.

We heard of the disasters that plagued the project in the last year: the loss of both our terrific original architect and our project manager, leading to the firing of much of our team.

We learned that owning the building on 48th Street costs 802 approximately $1 million per year. We saw how dues revenue has rebounded since the pandemic but has now levelled out while our expenses keep increasing. The cost of owning the building is a big part of those increasing expenses.

We discussed the options we have now that will either lead to us staying in the building and finishing the project or to a sale of the building, followed by our likely move to rental quarters.

We introduced Erik Caiola of Resolution Real Estate Partners, whom we hired as our owner’s representative in January and who has assembled a new team, got new construction bids, and is helping us secure the premises until we find a way forward.

Ultimately, our members will decide which way we go.

I’d like to share the questions I posed that ended my presentation. These are questions that members must answer for themselves.

• Do we want to tie up our resources in the building, or free them to serve members?
• Are we preserving bricks and mortar, or protecting jobs, benefits, and advocacy?
• Can we do both?
• Can we afford to hold to the past if it puts the future at risk?
• Do we want to rent space indefinitely in lieu of building ownership?
• Will losing our building bring with it a loss to 802’s identity and/or mission?
• Can we afford to lose our public space that serves the members, the community and the city?

Lastly, a member referendum is required for a building sale and will take some months to arrange if we need to. We are months away from any such decision.

But whatever we choose  —  let’s do it together, with eyes open and a clear sense of what we’re fighting for. This is your union. Your decision.

We will be hosting three meetings* to update members and take questions between July and October, culminating with our October 22 membership meeting at 5pm (save the date!).

• *Our first meeting is Monday, July 21 at 5pm. Click here to RSVP: www.local802afm.org/building
• You can email me directly with questions at scutler@local802afm.org.
• UPDATE: As Allegro went to press, a comprehensive presentation was added to the Local 802 membership portal. Log in at https://info.local802afm.org , then click on MEMBER DOCS, then see LOCAL 802 BUILDING INFO at the bottom.